14 finance mistakes listed
- Hashtag Investing published 14 common ways Canadians unintentionally damage long‑term finances. - The list calls out high‑interest debt, lifestyle inflation, neglecting registered accounts, and emotional market timing. - The piece argues behavioural leaks usually matter more than minor portfolio tweaks for accelerating long‑term savings. (hashtaginvesting.com)
A new Hashtag Investing post argues that Canadians do more damage to long-term wealth through everyday habits than through bad stock picks. (hashtaginvesting.com) The article, published on April 22, 2026, lists 14 recurring mistakes, starting with no emergency fund, routine credit-card balances and treating a home equity line of credit as spendable income. It also flags overspending on housing, ignoring employer retirement matches and letting registered-account room sit unused. (hashtaginvesting.com) The list then moves to tax shelters and investing behavior: using a Tax-Free Savings Account as a revolving spending account, skipping the First Home Savings Account, paying fees without noticing, holding long-term money in cash, failing to diversify and chasing the market emotionally. It closes with lifestyle inflation, late tax filing and outdated wills, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations. (hashtaginvesting.com) Those account mistakes land in a year when Ottawa’s registered-plan limits have moved higher. The Canada Revenue Agency says the 2026 Tax-Free Savings Account dollar limit is $7,000, the 2026 Registered Retirement Savings Plan dollar limit is $33,810, and First Home Savings Account participation room starts at $8,000 in the year you open one. (canada.ca 1) (canada.ca 2) (canada.ca 3) The Canada Revenue Agency also warns that Tax-Free Savings Account room is not updated in real time in a taxpayer’s online account. Withdrawals are added back on January 1 of the following year, and overcontributions can trigger tax on the excess amount. (canada.ca) The debt warnings in the piece match a broader household picture. Equifax Canada said total consumer debt reached $2.65 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 3.13% from a year earlier, with non-mortgage debt up 4.50%. (equifax.ca) The Bank of Canada said in its 2025 Financial Stability Report that households had been carrying less debt relative to income on average over the previous 12 months, but it also said “pockets of financial stress” remained. The central bank added that a prolonged trade war could weaken growth, raise unemployment and leave some households unable to keep making debt payments. (bankofcanada.ca) Statistics Canada reported that the household debt service ratio ticked up to 14.41% in the second quarter of 2025 from 14.37% in the first quarter. That measure tracks required principal and interest payments as a share of disposable income. (statcan.gc.ca) The through line in Hashtag Investing’s list is simple: the leaks are mostly behavioral, not technical. In that framing, the expensive mistake is not missing a perfect fund but normalizing debt, unused tax shelters and spending increases that swallow every raise. (hashtaginvesting.com)
